Delivering his ruling on Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu held that the court could not revisit or re-admit the same evidence it had earlier declared inadmissible.
The DSS, through its lead counsel, Oladipupo Okpeseyi (SAN), had urged the court to allow inspection of vehicles allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s residence during a 2015 search operation, arguing that the exhibits were initially rejected because “a proper foundation had not been laid.”
However, Dasuki’s counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), opposed the motion, stressing that once an exhibit has been marked as rejected, the same court lacks the power to re-admit it. He described the DSS’s application as an attempt to “invite the court to sit on appeal over its own ruling.”
In a firm ruling, Justice Lifu reaffirmed that the exhibits “remain rejected,” warning that admitting them “through the back door” would amount to judicial rascality and pettiness.
“I recall that on July 10, 2025, I ruled that the same exhibits lacked relevance and proper foundation for admission. That ruling still stands, and I am bound by it,” the judge stated.
The court subsequently dismissed the DSS’s motion in its entirety, describing it as baseless, ill-conceived, and an abuse of judicial process.
